• General Thoughts,  Novels (my writing updates),  Pop Culture

    Music in Jordan’s Sister

    While music is an important element in each of my novels, this is especially true for Jordan’s Sister. Taylor and Layne are singer-songwriters. Their entire lives are filled with music. I’m a writer who can barely carry a tune, and music is such an integral part of my life that I’d be lost without it. To me, music is a doorway straight to the soul, and lyrics are poetry expressed with more feeling than what can be conveyed by words merely spoken. There are 23 songs referenced in the novel. Four songs are featured in their entirety (because I wrote them) and the others are referenced by title only with or…

  • General Thoughts,  Novels (my writing updates)

    Best laid plans: Jordan’s Sister Update

    ***UPDATE*** As of April 26, Jordan’s Sister is available in paperback format on Amazon. From April 24, 2018: Today was supposed to be the launch day for Jordan’s Sister, the first novel to be published under Luminesce Publishing. The launch date was a deadline I set myself, so not meeting it isn’t the end of the world. For now, I will have to settle for a partially-met goal. The eBook launched early, on April 21. You can purchase a copy on Amazon.com or read for free with your Kindle Unlimited subscription. There is a “Look inside” feature that allows you to read just past the opening of Chapter 4, which…

  • General Thoughts

    For the love of travel (for work): Seattle

    One of the perks of my job at the university is the privilege to travel for professional development. During spring break (for the college students and my elementary school children), I attended the 2018 CASE Editors Forum in Seattle, Washington. Not only had I never attended this conference before, but I’d never been to Seattle. Due to having to fly across two time zones (I live in Arkansas) and the start time of the conference on Wednesday, March 21, I had to travel the day before. It was interesting, to say the least. For the first time ever, I set off the metal detector at the Little Rock Airport. What…